Soviets Pick New Head of Nuclear Power Committee

MOSCOW — The Soviet Union today named a new head of the state committee responsible for safety in the atomic power industry, one month after his predecessor was removed in the aftermath of the Chernobyl accident.

Tass said the new head was Vadim Malyshev, 54, who since 1973 has run a nuclear power plant at Beloyarsk, east of the Ural mountains. His predecessor, Yevgeny Kulov, was removed in July, three months after the Chernobyl disaster.

The nuclear power committee was heavily criticized by Soviet media in the wake of the Chernobyl disaster.